The event: Sugar-sparkled gum drops and cheery candy canes were among the construction materials at the 12th annual WINGS’ Sweet Home Chicago brunch fundraiser held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago on Dec. 13.
More than 410 children and adults gathered for the highly-anticipated holiday benefit to design and decorate individual gingerbread houses while raising funds for families affected by domestic violence.
Cause célebre: “Our work is never done, unfortunately,” said Denise Urban of Schaumburg, CFO. “Domestic violence crosses all socio-economic classes; all races, all cultures. It could be your neighbor, your daughter, your mom, your grandmother.”
Proceeds from the event cover 10 months of operating costs for WINGS suburban safe house. In addition, a portion of the proceeds is being allocated for WINGS Metro, the new Chicago facility currently under construction on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
“This is an issue that isn’t going to go away and we just have to continue to work toward improving the situations and lives of the many women who are caught up in domestic violence,” said Rita Canning of Inverness, board chairman.
Canning and her husband have put up a $1-million challenge grant to help WINGS complete construction on their newest facility. Currently, the organization operates 39 homes through which it aids between 700-800 women and children in emergency situations throughout Cook and Lake counties annually.
“Every night we can house a mom and her kids is a night that they’re safe,” said Urban. “We are as much a service as an emergency room. It is life and death, and every night we house someone, is a night they don’t die.”
Bottom line: The benefit raised a record $1 million, the highest amount to date, bringing the sum total of funds raised to more than $7.9 million since the first Sweet Home Chicago benefit in 2004. More information at wingsprogram.com